Worcester mayoral candidates have more time to decide

Monday

Jun 17, 2013 at 10:00 PMJun 17, 2013 at 10:13 PM

By Nick Kotsopoulos TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

The field for this fall's mayor's race is not set after all.

The Election Commission unanimously voted Monday night to give all at-large City Council candidates appearing on the November municipal ballot until Sept. 24 to decide whether they also want to run for mayor.

Under the city's charter, all at-large City Council candidates are automatically candidates for mayor. To be elected mayor, a person must finish first in that race and also win one of the six at-large council seats.

Those who do not wish to run for mayor must notify the Election Commission they are withdrawing from that race. In past years, the deadline to withdraw has been five business days after the September preliminary election. With this year's preliminary election scheduled for Sept. 17, it meant the deadline to withdraw from the mayor's race would have been Sept. 24

But this year's preliminary was canceled because not enough candidates for City Council and School Committee were able to obtain the necessary number of signatures on their nomination papers to warrant a runoff.

With the cancellation of the preliminary election, City Clerk David J. Rushford notified all at-large City Council candidates they had until May 29 to withdraw from the mayor's race.

The four candidates who did not withdraw by May 29 were Mayor Joseph M. Petty, who is seeking his second term in office, William S. Coleman III, William Feegbeh and Councilor-at-Large Konstantina B. Lukes.

But Mrs. Lukes challenged whether Mr. Rushford had the authority to change the deadline without authorization from the Election Commission.

She argued that at-large council candidates should still have until Sept. 24 to decide whether they also want to run for mayor, and she asked the Election Commission to reconsider.

In a five-page opinion provided to the Election Commission, City Solicitor David M. Moore said the city charter specifically does not address what the deadline for the mayor's race should be when the preliminary election is canceled.

“While (the charter) says that candidates for councilor-at-large may withdraw their names from the mayor's ballot within five business days of the date of the preliminary election, the provision does not say when that five-day period starts when there is no preliminary election,” Mr. Moore said. “Therefore, this is a matter of interpretation for the commission.”

Commissioner Diane Mohieldin suggested that the Sept. 24 deadline be reinstated. She also suggested that going forward the Election Commission set the mayor's race withdrawal deadline at five days after the date of the scheduled preliminary election, even if it is canceled.

Commission Chairman John Goggins agreed that keeping a uniformity and consistency to the deadlines it sets is important so candidates can rely on them.

Those candidates who withdrew from the mayor's race and wish to remain so will not have to file anything with the Election Commission. But those candidates who withdrew and might have had a change of heart will be able to re-enter the mayor's race if they wish.